A-Show: A wrestling event where the marquee stars perform such as WWE RAW & Smackdown
A-Team: The wrestlers on an A-Show
Angle: Storyline or Events that lead to a feud between wrestlers
B-Show: A Wrestling event where the jobbers and mid carders wrestle such as WWE Superstars
B-Team: Group of wrestlers on a B-Show
Babyface: The good guy or the fan favorite
Backyard Wrestling: Wrestling performed by those who are usually untrained and do so for hobby rather than profession
Beat Down: When a wrestler or group of wrestlers attack a talent outside of a match, usually leaving the talent unable to compete
Blade: The practice of cutting ones forehead during a match to produce blood for effect
Blowoff: A match used to end a feud
Booker: The person in charge of organizing talent and putting together the card for a show as well as determining who wins and loses each match
Brand: Different shows owned by the same company. Ex. RAW or Smackdown
Broadway: A time limit draw ending for a match
Bump: a move in which a wrestler falls to the mat
Buyrate: A rating which indicates the number of PPVs that were purchased
Call a Match: To do play by play and commentary in the match like Jim Ross etc.
Canned Heat: boos and jeers pumped through the audio system or added in post-production
Card: The matches on a show
Carry: a wrestler who helps his opponent
Cheap Heat: When a wrestler wears rival jerseys of sports teams of the hometown or makes offensive comments or gestures designed to make the crowd boo
Cheap Pop: When a wrestler puts over the name of the town or the hometown sports team in order to make the crowd cheer
Cheapshot: A shot delivered to a wrestler from behind or when the referee isn’t looking in order to gain an unfair advantage
Clean Finish: A pin or submission in the ring that does not involve any sort of shenanigans, cheap shots or unethical practices
Countout: When a wrestler is outside of the ring for longer than a ten count during a standard match, the match ends and his opponent is the victor
Cut a Promo: To do an interview or come out and start talking
Dark Match: A match on a tv show that is not shown on TV and only seen by those in the arena
Disqualification: When a wrestler breaks the rules and the referee ends the match and awards the victory to the opposing wrestler
Draw: When neither wrestler wins or loses, such as a double pin or double count out
Dusty Finish: Generally when a face wins a match, but the decision is reversed to award the victory to the heel. The term is named for Dusty Rhodes who was known for booking such matches
Face: Short word for babyface; Good guy or fan favorite
Feud: Interaction between two or more specific wrestlers that lasts for a while
Finish: The way that the match is scripted to end
Finisher: The finishing move – Stunner, Tombstone, etc.
Foreign Object: An illegal object in the match like a chair or brass knuckles
Gimmick: The personality of the wrestler
Gimmick Match: A non-standard match. Ex: Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, TLC, etc.
Gold: Championship belt
Green: An inexperienced wrestler
Gusher: A wrestler who heavily bleeds
Hardcore: ECW style matches in which anything goes and weapons are often utilized
Hardway: When a wrestler bleeds from actual contact in a match instead of blading
Heat: When fans boo a wrestler, or a wrestler is in trouble with officials backstage
Heel: The bad guy
Hot Tag: When a face is tagged into the match and clears the ring after his partner has been beaten down
House: Number of fans in a building
House Show: A show that is not taped for TV
Hulk Up: When a wrestler no-sells attacks and turns the momentum in his favor, popularized by Hulk Hogan
Job: A planned loss
Jobber: A wrestler who loses in order to make another wrestler look good
Jabroni: Slang for the word jobber
Kayfabe: Comes from the carny word for “fake”. When wrestlers are practicing kayfabe they are completely in character
Kick Out: When a wrestler lifts his legs in the air in order to gain leverage to lift up his shoulders and escape a pinfall
Lucha Libre: A Mexican style of wrestling which typically includes fast paced action, masked wrestlers and midgets
Luchador: A participant in Lucha Libre wrestling
Main Event: The last match of the show which is typically the biggest drawing factor
Main Eventer: A wrestler that is in contention for the world title and usually wrestles in main events
Manager: A person who accompanies a wrestler to the ring and seeks to represent and gain advantages for their client. Ex. Jimmy Hart
Mark: A wrestling fan who believes everything in wrestling is real
Mark out: To become very excited when something happens in wrestling
Mid-Card: The matches that occur during the middle portion of a show
Mid-Carder: A wrestler that is not a main eventer, but not quite a jobber
No Show: When a wrestler doesn’t show up for a scheduled appearance
Over: To be popular with the audience
Oversell: When a wrestler exaggerates the impact of wrestling moves
Paper: When a promoter gives out free tickets in order to make the shows look full
Pay Per View: A wrestling event in which the customer must pay in order to watch
Pinfall: The end of a match that results from a wrestler’s shoulders being held on the mat for three seconds
Pop: When the fans cheer
Promo: A monologue delivered by a wrestler
Promoter: The person in charge of bringing in fans and raising awareness for shows
Push: When a wrestler wins a lot of matches to make him look good
Pyro: Explosions and fireworks used to accent wrestler entrances and the opening of shows
Ratings: A tool used to determine the number of viewers for a program. Nielsen Media Research is the predominate company that calculates these figures in the United States.
Ref Bump: When a referee is knocked out by contact from a wrestler
Ring Rust: When a wrestler has been away from the ring for a period of time and is not as fast or fluid as in the past
Rope Break: The act of grabbing the rope during a submission or pinfall in order to end the hold/count
Ropes: The steel wires around the ring which enclose the structure
Rub: When a veteran talent is in the ring with a younger talent and works to get them over
Rudo: The heel wrestler in Lucha Libre wrestling
Run In: When a wrestler not involved in a match and is not at ringside comes in to interfere
Selling: The act of making wrestling moves looking legitimate
Shoot: Something in wrestling that is real or not planned
Singlet: Ring gear that resembles the outfits of amateur wrestlers
Smark: Someone who believes that they know the inner workings of the business, but in reality has no experience in the business and is a fan
Spot: A move that is planned in advance
Spotfest: Several pre-planned moves that are executed in quick succession
Squash: When a wrestler is defeated in a short period of time
Stable: A group of wrestlers
Stiff: When a wrestler delivers moves and blows in a manner that causes them to hurt instead of delivering them in a safe manner
Strap: Championship belt
Submission: A match that ends as a result of a wrestler tapping out or being deemed unconscious
Submission Hold: A move that makes an opponent give up or tap out – Sharpshooter, Ankle Lock
Swerve: A twist in the storyline
Tag: When a wrestler slaps the hand or body of his partner to bring them into a tag match
Tag Rope: A piece of string in the corner whose length a wrestler cannot exceed when receiving a tag
Tap Out: When a wrestler slaps the mat while a submission move is applied to signify that they give up
Technico: a face wrestler in Lucha Libre
Turn: When a wrestler changes from a heel to a face, or from a face to a heel
Tweener: A wrestler who is neither completely face nor completely heel
Undercard: The matches that occur before the main event
Valet: Like a manager, but a usually a female
Vignette: A pre-taped backstage segment
Work: Something in wrestling that is planned
Worked Shoot: Something that is planned but is designed to look as though it is spontaneous
